However, there are two theories of personal identity. What most contemporary philosophers believe is the body theory Which states that, I am the same person who I was born as and will remain that same person until I die because I will remain in the same body for that entire period of time. At first glance that makes sense, since there is no way with current technology to swap our brains into another body. However, there is a problem with the body theory exposed in the thought experiment, The Ship of Theseus. It goes that a ship leaves the port of Theseus on a journey. On the journey the ship faced harsh storms and wind damaging parts of the ship. The crew then had to fix parts of the ship such as the floorboards and the sail. Eventually the ship faced so much gradual damage that every part of the ship was eventually replaced. So, when the ship returns to Theseus, is it still the same ship that left the port? When looking at the body theory the answer is no because the ship changed as soon as the first plank was replaced. If we apply that to people, our body is constantly changing. We replace older, dying cells with new ones, and therefore don’t have the same body over time. So, what about the other
However, there are two theories of personal identity. What most contemporary philosophers believe is the body theory Which states that, I am the same person who I was born as and will remain that same person until I die because I will remain in the same body for that entire period of time. At first glance that makes sense, since there is no way with current technology to swap our brains into another body. However, there is a problem with the body theory exposed in the thought experiment, The Ship of Theseus. It goes that a ship leaves the port of Theseus on a journey. On the journey the ship faced harsh storms and wind damaging parts of the ship. The crew then had to fix parts of the ship such as the floorboards and the sail. Eventually the ship faced so much gradual damage that every part of the ship was eventually replaced. So, when the ship returns to Theseus, is it still the same ship that left the port? When looking at the body theory the answer is no because the ship changed as soon as the first plank was replaced. If we apply that to people, our body is constantly changing. We replace older, dying cells with new ones, and therefore don’t have the same body over time. So, what about the other